this snub signals that obama's attempts to reset relations has hit pause. improving u.s. public relations was one of president obama's top foreign policy goals when he came to office. >> it's difficult to forge a lasting partnership between former adversaries. it's hard to change habits that have been ingrained in our governments and bureaucracies for decades. that's why i've called for a resets in the relations between united states and russia. >> that started with an actual molk reset button which hillary clinton handed her russian counterpart. we tried to get this right. did we? >> you got this wrong. >> we got it wrong. >> russian president vladimir putin played the strong man in public and in private. he refused to budge in negotiations with obama on syria, arms reduction, and missile defense. meanwhile the two countries continue to spy on each other. president obama blamed it on outdated thinking. >> there have been times where they've flipped backing into a cold war thinking and mentality. what i consistently say to them and to president putin, that's the past. >>